# Firehouse Dinner Thread



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

Hey guys!

I don't know if there's any interest in me starting a dinner thread or not but I thought it might be fun. If there's any interest, I'll keep it going. So why is it called the Firehouse Dinner Thread? I really don't go all out when I cook at home. When I cook at the firehouse, I generally try to impress. 

I've been a firefighter for a little over 10 years and have been the only cook at my house the whole time. I've been cooking since I was quite young but never received any formal training. If you want a recipe, send me a PM and I'll get it to you.

The way meals work at my house is: Everyone who wants to eat pays $5 per meal. Some nights I make something cheap and simple with the intention of saving up money for something nicer later on. There's usually 6 or 8 of us here so I get a fair amount of money to play with. It may give some of you guys some ideas for a cheap and easy dinner for the family or something a little more technical to impress your significant other or a date.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

*Chicago Deep Dish Pizza*

So to start it off, here is tonights dinner.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. This has become the favorite here. It took me a while to figure out how to get the crust just right but I've got it down.

I had to buy everything for these since you need bread flour instead of all purpose flour. If I recall correctly, I spent just shy of $40 for everything. You'll have a lot of extra ingredients left over though. I think I added it up once and the cost is somewhere around $16 per pizza. It sounds expensive but just 1 slice will fill me up and I'm a fairly big guy. I cut the pizza into 6 slices so just 1 pizza will easily feed a family of 4 and you'll possibly have a slice or 2 left over.

The toppings for tonight were italian sausage, pepperoni, onion, green pepper and black olive. One of the guys is from Chicago and said that this was the best pizza that he can remember having... They really were that good.

One of the tips to making a good deep dish is to dry the toppings as much as possible. If you cut your veggies and just throw them on, you'll end up with a soggy mess. The rule of thumb is no more than 3 toppings but if you dry really well, you can get away with more.

You'll see these cast iron skillets quite a bit if you stick with me on this thread. They're a #10 & #11 Griswald "ERIE" 2nd series from 1886-1892. I bought them at an estate sale and have restored them. I think I have somewhere around 20 or so of them of different sizes.


























If you want the recipe, just shoot me a PM.

Thanks


----------



## ShaneG (Apr 9, 2014)

Looks good brother, PM sent


----------



## Auburnguy (Sep 21, 2014)

I appreciate the sharing sir.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

No problem guys. 

Thanks for checking out the thread and check back in and let me know how it turns out. I should update every shift unless we get busy. I'm on a 24/48 schedule so I should update on the 1st if I'm counting my days right.


----------



## TreySC (May 30, 2014)

Looks good. Big cast iron fan here. I just have newer Lodge, but would love to get some old griswold stuff like that.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

TreySC said:


> Looks good. Big cast iron fan here. I just have newer Lodge, but would love to get some old griswold stuff like that.


Check out estate sales, auctions, garage sales or ebay. If you join a site called the Wagner and Griswald Society, they have a website with good info and their WTS/WTT/WTB section is good. They take care of each other.

The old cast iron is far superior to modern made Lodge in most peoples opinion. It's glass smooth and much lighter than the modern stuff. It can be found much cheaper too which is another plus.

Will update tomorrow night with another dinner picture and recipe. My Lieutenant has been out for the past month because his wife had a baby so depending on how the day goes, I'll make something good.


----------



## MeterMaid (Aug 26, 2014)

Looks tasty!! I need to pick up some cast iron!


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

*Smoked Chicken*

I was going to make a soup or chili this evening but our afternoon was going to be a little busy so I needed a set it and forget it meal. Smoked chicken fits that bill nicely so I got 2 chickens and set them up for 3.5 hours on the grill. We don't have a smoker (besides me) at the firehouse but I've been smoking meat on our little gas grill for years with good results.

Total cost for today was $31 although we didn't have to buy cheese for the mac & cheese or any seasonings.

First, I use beer can chicken stands. Obviously, I can't have beer here at the firehouse so I usually use cans 1/2 filled with water.
The seasoning I use is called Magic BBQ seasoning. Generously coat the bird with this.
You'll want indirect heat so I place aluminum foil over the entire grill. Place the birds toward the back of the grill and only turn on the front most burner. If your burners are left to right, place the bird on the opposite side of the grill of the 1 burner you turn on.
Use lump charcoal and light according to directions. This is much simpler to use vs wood chips and you get a better smoke in my opinion. Place the wood tray over the burner that is on.
With this grill, I turn the 1 burner that is on to the 1/2 way point. This gets me to about 300 dF and that works really well for 2 birds for 3.5 hours. You'll have to play with your grill to find it's sweet spot. I realize that grill thermometers aren't very accurate... You'll have to know your grill and having a good thermometer would be a better way to go.

For sides, I made mac & cheese and we grilled some corn on the cob. For grilled corn, I find the easiest way to grill it is to leave it completely in the husk and soak in water for at least 1 hour. Grill for around 25 minutes and then move to a cutting board. Cut the end of the husk around 1" and then squeeze the husk at the tip and the corn will slide out completely clean... No corn silk to clean or anything.


































Any questions... just ask or shoot me a PM.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

For those who are following, I'm going to let you guys down tonight a little. I completely forgot to take pictures for breakfast and dinner. I did take pictures of breakfast cooking but none of the finished product because everyone dived right in... Including myself.

On the weekends and holidays, I make breakfast along with dinner. Today was french toast with sausage and for dinner was pierogis and kielbasa with some sautéed onions. I'm going to skip the directions for dinner as it's pretty straight forward. The pierogis were brought frozen and the kielbasa was store bought as well. It was a cheap no frills dinner. Breakfast though...

I had to buy everything today including some OJ for breakfast. I believe the total damage was right around $50 but I fed 7 people today.

For the french toast, I like to buy whole loafs of french bread and slice very thick... At least 1". You can't go too thick because you want the milk/egg mixture to completely penetrate the bread. When done correctly, you'll have french toast with a bread pudding/custard like consistency in the middle. It is awesome.

The mixture for today... Again this is for 7 people. Also, I don't measure. I just add until this looks right and I'm just going off the top of my head on this one.
2 whole french loafs cut in to slices at least 1" thick.
12 eggs
Around 4 cups of whole milk
Around 2 cups of 1/2 & 1/2
1/2 cup of sugar
1/8 cup of vanilla extract
1T of nutmeg
4T of cinnamon

Pre-heat your oven to 300 dF. Mix all of the ingredients together and move to a fairly wide dish like a baking dish. Put your sliced bread and allow to soak for around 2-5 minutes. Flip the bread over and let it soak again. You want your bread to be completely saturated with the mixture.

While you're doing that, start heating up your favorite cooking surface. For this, I prefer an electric griddle heated to around 300 dF. You'll want to either butter or pam the cooking surface prior to putting your bread on. Put your bread on the griddle and let them cook for around 5 minutes. You want the bread to be somewhat crisp and brown. Once it's to that point, flip and repeat. Once both sides of the bread has cooked, move the french toast to a baking sheet and place in your preheated oven for around 10 minutes. This will finish cooking the mixture inside the bread. You have the option to have it a little softer and not cook it in the oven at all or for less time, or if you want it more firm, cook it a little longer.

It's that easy and my family (at home and at the FD) absolutely loves this.

I'm sorry these are the only pictures I took. I cook this fairly often for the kiddos so I'll take some pictures of the finished product soon. This does not give justice to my french toast.

This is the bread soaking









Bread on the griddle


----------



## Passprotection (Jan 28, 2013)

Looks great Ryan! I'm from Savannah and frequent there at least once a month. What part of town is your department? I have family (and from) the Pooler area. Keep up the good cooking man!


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

Hey Lonnie. I actually live in the Pooler area also... Bloomingdale to be exact. 

I work over the river in Bluffton SC. I used to live in Bluffton when I started here and would rather stay here and commute.

We'll have to get together for a cigar sometime.


----------



## Passprotection (Jan 28, 2013)

Don't know how long you've lived there but I worked at Key hardware in the early 2000's while in collage - now just a lumber yard. Also worked at the machine shop on Cherry street - IMR, but think that the name is now Aerotech... Small world. I remember when Pooler was a two lane road and had one red light. How times have changed.

BTW, I'm in Charleston, SC now.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

I've just lived there just short of a year. I moved in with my girlfriend who has been there her entire life. You probably know her or she knows you or your family... She seems to know everyone. We can't go anywhere or do anything without her running in to someone she knows.


----------



## Passprotection (Jan 28, 2013)

magoo6541 said:


> I've just lived there just short of a year. I moved in with my girlfriend who has been there her entire life. You probably know her or she knows you or your family... She seems to know everyone. We can't go anywhere or do anything without her running in to someone she knows.


Yeah we'll have to have a cigar at some point. BTW, have you been to that tobacco store on Hwy 80 near the fun park? I've been in their humidor twice and it's crazy the amount of mold that's in the humidor. Sad because they have a few decent NC's.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

I sure have. When I decided I wanted to try to get into cigars, I stopped there to see what they had. They have a couple tins of decent pipe tobacco which is nice. The humidor is something else though. Not knowing any better the first time, I bought a couple cigars to try out. I went in a second time and it hit me that, if I'm not mistaken, it is lined with american cedar and not spanish cedar. Again, not knowing any better I bought 2 cigars. Started reading and teaching myself and haven't been back since.


----------



## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

*French Toast*

Here are the pictures as promised.

Here is the color you're looking for. A little less would be fine too.









After being on the griddle, they went into a 300 dF oven for 10 minutes. They turned out perfect. The inside is nice and moist while still being pretty firm.


----------

